Automatic telephone system.



No. 686,892. Patented Nov. l9, I90l. E. A. FALLEB.

AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE SYSTEM.

(Application filed Aug. 22, 1901.) (No Model.) [5 Sheets-Shoat I.

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No. 686,892. Patentd Nov. I9, 19m. E. A. FALLER.

AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE SYSTEM.

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Q-vweutoz N0. 686,892. Patented Nov; I9, l90l. E. A. FALLER.

AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE SYSTEM. (Application filed Aug. 22, 1901.)

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E. A. FALLEB. AUTOMATIC- TELEPHONE SYSTEM.

(Application filed Aug. 22, 1901.

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Patented Nov. 19, I9!- l5 Sheofv-Sheel 5.

E. A. FALLEB.

AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE SYSTEM.

(Application filed Aug. 22, 1901.) (No Model.)

No. 686,892. Patented Nnv. l9, I90l. E. A. FALLER.

(Application fil ed Aug. 22, 1901.

(No Model.)

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'No. 6863392. 'P fatented Nov. I9, I90];

E. A. FALLEB. AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE SYSTEM.

(Application filed Aug. 22, 1901.)

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attozwmp No. 686,892. Patent ed Nov. l9, 19m.

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AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE SYSTEM.

(Application filed Aug. 22, 1901.) I (N M B l5 Sheets-Sheet 9.

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Patented Nov. l9, l90|. E. A. FALLER. AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE SYSTEM.

(Application filed Aug. 22, 1901.) (No Model.) I5 Sheets-Sheet l0.

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I Patented Nov. l9, IQOI. E. A. FALLEB. AUTOMATIC- TELEPHONE SYSTEM.

(Application filed Aug. 22, 1901.)

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(No Model.)

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No. 686,892. Patented Nov. I9, I901.

E. A. FALLER.

AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE $Y$TEM.

(Application filed Aug. 22, 1901.)

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(No Model.)

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No. 686,892. Patented Nov. l9, 190i. E. A. FALLEB.

AUTOMATIC TELEPHONESYSTEM.

(Application filed. Aug. 22, 1901.) 0 a -J l5 Sheets-Sheet l3.

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No. 686,892. I Patented NOV. l9, I90l.

E. .A. FALLER.

AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE SYSTEM.

(Application filed Aug. 22, 1901.)

(No Model.) l5 Sheets-Shoat l4.

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(No Model.)

E. A. FALLER.

AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE SYSTEM,

(Application filed. Aug. 22, 1901.)

Patented Nov. l9, l90l.

l5 Sheets-Sheet l5;

UNlTED STATES PATENT ()FFIGE.

ERNEST A. FALLER, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JAMES WV. CHISI-IOLM, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patelat N0. 686,892 dated November 19, 1901. Application filed August 22, 1901. Serial No. 72,942. (No model.)

To all whom it Wavy concern.-

Be it known that I, ERNEST A. FALLER, a citizen of the German Empire, residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland,have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Automatic Telephone Systems, (Case A;) and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My present invention relates to improvements in automatic telephone-exchange systems, and has for its primary object the per- I 5 formance by machinery with the aid of electricity of all the operations now performed by an operator of the best manual exchanges and in doing this to dispense with the use of electricity as a motive power to the greatest extent possible and to substitute powercontrolled movements therefor, thereby doing away with the multiplicity of contacts, magnets, and also the greater part of the wires now used in an exchange.

In causing the automatic exchange herein described to do the actual work performed by an operator of a manual exchange the conversion of a manual into an automatic exchange may be accomplished with the minimum amount of alteration, as the terminal connections are very much the same in both cases. The subscribers telephone is not disturbed nor the business of the exchange materially interfered with, this system being a 5 straight central energy system throughout,

though it could be easily adapted to the now almost obsolete individual-battery system.

The numerous automatic telephone systems evolved so far while differing in me- 40 chanical and electrical details all employ in some form the idea of the so-called Swiss switchboard, which means that two distinct sets of connecting devices are employed, preferably disposed at right angles to each other,

5 and a third connecting means completes the connection; or, to state it differently, the connection of the calling subscriber differs from that of the called subscriber. For example, in a well-known system the called connection is one of a bank of contacts, circularly disposed in the path of a rotatable sweeper or traveling contact which forms the calling connection. In another representative system carriages carrying the calling contact are movably disposed in proximity to wires forming the called contacts, the direction of the travel of the carriages being at right angles to the wires. This, however, is not the case with the present invention. The central terminal connection of a subscriber according to myinvention is identically the same whether he be the calling or called subscriber. This I effect by having all subscribers lines terminate at central in similar terminal switches and connecting the switches of both calling and called subscribers to cordcircuit terminals, just as in manual practice the calling and called jacks are connected by a cordand plug, and it is this mode of conmeeting the subscribers which alone makes it possible to dispense altogether with taps, cross-wires, or multiple connections in my exchange.

This invention, moreover, constitutes a departure from other automatic exchanges and also manual exchanges in dispensing with an individual magnet for each subscribers line and substituting therefor a busy-wheel and other mechanical apparatus hereinafter described. The point gained by the use of this busy-wheel is not, however, mainly the saving of magnets, but the establishing of a retation of subscribers, which makes any additional apparatus to safeguard against the possibility of several subscribers simultaneous calls interfering with each other entirely unnecessary.

My invention furthermore consists in placing all the operations of the exchange switching apparatus under the initial control of a single magnet which is placed at the disposal of no two subscribers simultaneously, but to all at successive intervals.

My invention also consists in providing means by which a complete isolation of the 5 subscribers circuits is obtained by placing the connecting devices of these circuits wholly beyond the reach of the central power mechanism.

My said invention also comprises a novel form of clearing-out device, busy test,'and subscribers sender, and other features hereinafter more particularly described, pointed out in the claims.

In order to more fully describe my said invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a diagram of the circuits of a subscribers outfit, and Fig. 2 a diagram of the central-exchange circuits. Fig. 3 represents the sender in top plan view with the casing removed. Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the sender with the casing in section. Fig. 5 is a detail top plan view of the rotating contact-maker of the sender, and Fig. 6 a section taken along the line 6 6 of Fig. 4 and looking down. Fig. 7 is a detail view of a part of the sender-locking mechanism, showing the relative position of the parts during operation; and Fig. 8 is a similar view showing the sender-locking mechanism in the position it assumes when the sender is set for a signal and locked. Fig. 9 is a detail sec tional view of the sender-dial-locking mechanism, the top plate of the sender being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 10 is an end elevation of the central switchboard and power device with parts broken away. Fig. 11 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 12 is a detail view of a portion of the ringer-actuating mechanism. Fig. 13 is a rear elevation of the and parts shown in Fig. 11, and Fig. 14 a section taken along the line 14 14 of Fig. 13 and looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 15 is a detail view of the shuttle-dropping cam and lever operated thereby; and Fig. 16, a top plan view of the same, showing the cam in dotted" lines. Fig. 17 is a section along the line 17 17 of Fig. 13 and looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 18 is a detail perspective view of aportion of the floating clutch mechanism. Fig. 19 is a detail perspective view of the busy-wheel stop mechanism. .Fig. 20 is a cross-section, partly in elevation, of the switchboard; and Fig. 21 is a similar View of the same, showing a shuttle thrown into the locked position. Fig. 22 is a top plan view of the clearing-out device and ringer-operatin g mechanism. Fig. 23 is a detail view of a portion of the shuttle locking and releasing mechanism. Fig. 24 is a top plan View of a section of the switchboard, showing the cordcircuit terminals, carriage-rods, and carriages in different operative positions. Figs. 25, 2G, and 27 are detail views of the clearing-out mechanism, showing the same in difierent stages of operation. Fig. 28 is adetail view of the centralexchange rotating contactmaker, showing the arrangement of its connections. Fig. 29 is a detail top plan view of one of the shut tles and shuttle-locks. Fig. 30 is a detail perspective view of one of the carriages carrying the terminal-springs of a subscribers line. Fig. 31 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the busy-wheel, and Fig. 32 a detail perspective View of the reciprocating carriage for operating the clearing-out mechanism. Fig. 33 is a side elevation of the selector; and Fig. 34 is a section of the same, taken along the line 34 34 of Fig; 33.

Similar letters and numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In carrying out my invention I use an ordinary telephone circuit employing any well-known subscribers outfit and the usual protecting devices, and to each of these subscribers outfits I add a small instrument, which will be designated a sender, the office of which is to send electrical impulses over the 7 subscribers lines and the ground, and thus to cause the central exchange to perform the switching necessary to connect the calling with the called subscriber. This sender is connected in the line and ground in multiple with the subscribers instruments and may be located at anypoint accessible to the subscriber.

A form of the sender is shown in Figs. 1 and 3 to 9, inclusive, in which A and A represent, respectively, two number-dials, upon each of which is arranged a series of numbers O to 9, the numbers upon the dial A composing the units and those upon the dial A the tens of the number desired by the calling subscriber. These dials are mounted fast upon the rotatable spindles 0t and a, respectively, and made adjustable thereon by means of the set-screws a These spindles a. and a terminate each in a milled head a forming knobs by which the operator may adjust the dials until the proper combination comprising the number of the called subscriber is obtained. These numbers are displayed to the operator through a preferably glass-covered opening I) in the casing B, which incloses the mechanism of the sender.

G and 0 represent metal contact disks mounted fast upon the spindles aand a, respectively, and therefore adapted to rotate as the dials A and A are rotated. These contact-disks are located in proximity to a series of circularly-disposed resilient contactmakers c and c and are reduced in diameter, as at 0 sufficiently to allow some of the contacts c c to engage them, while others clear them or all to engage them or all clear them, as the case may be. These contact-makers are mounted upon plates of insulation 0. Both disks 0 O are permanently grounded by being electrically connected through the frame of the instrument with the ground-terminal, (indicated at G.) Each of the contacts 0 is connected to one of the outer row of a series of circularly-disposed contact-pins d,and the contacts 0 are similarly connected to the outer row of a series of contact-pins d. These pins cl and d constitute the contact-points of a rotating contact-maker D. In each series of these contact-pins there is an inner row of pins concentric with the outer row, each inner pin in a radial line with respect to its corresponding outer pin. The pins comprising the inner row of each set are electrically connected together, and those of the set at are connected to the tens-terminal of the sender, (indicated at T,) and those of the series cl connected to the units-terminal U, all of which is most clearly shown in Fig. 1. The series of contact-pins d is arranged in the path of a rotating brush d and the series d in the path of a brush (1 so that as these brushes rotate the brush d will short-circuit the inner and outer row of pins of the series cl and the brush d will perform the same function relative to the pins d. These pins are so arranged, however, that as brush (1 passes over the series 01 it will rest upon the outer rowof pins only, and therefore will not short-circuit them, and the same holds true with respect to the brush (i and the pins (1, except in this latter case the brush rests upon the inner row of pins. The brushes, passing thus over the pins and short-circuiting them as described, act to send over both legs of the subsoribersline and the ground a series of impulses determined by the number of contacts of the series 0 and 0 connected to earth, all of which will be hereinafter more fully described. The pins cl and d are mounted upon a ring of insulating material D The brushes d and d are carried by arms mounted fast to an insulating support d which in turn is made fast upon a rotatable spindle d carrying a pinion d meshing with a gear (1 which is mounted loosely upon a rotatable spindle CF, to which is secured one end of a mainspring d having its other end made fast to the upper plate of the frame of the instrument. A pawl d mounted upon the gear (1 engages a ratchet d, mounted fast upon the spindle (Z and acts to communicate the motion imparted to the spindle by the spring d to the gear (1 and then to the pinion d and spindle 61 which rotates the brushes on the rotary contact-maker. The spindle d is connected through a train of gearing to an esoapement wheel (Z provided with an escapement-detent (Z E represents the calling-knob, mounted upon a rotatable spindle e, mounted in the frame of the instrument and attached through the instrument-casing, so that it will always be accessible to the vsubscriber. By operating this calling-knob several acts are pe1'for1ned-first, the spring (Z of the rotating contact-maker is wound up, thus setting that part of the instrument for operation; second, two ground connections are made, and, third, the machine is locked and prevented from being tampered with until the complete signal is sent. For this purpose the spindle of the calling-knob carries an arm 6, fixed rigidly thereto, which is provided at its outer end with a pin 6 adapted to engage when operated the end of a leverarm (2 pivotally connected tothe ends of the arms and 6 respectively, the latter being mounted at one end fast upon the spindle d of the rotating contact-maker, and the arm c mounted upon a spindle e and carrying a pin e which when the calling-knob is operated is adapted to be sent into engagement with and thus short-circuit the ground-spring terminals e and 6 This act of operating the calling-knob, which sends the arm 2 in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 6, also winds up the spring at by causing the ratchet d to advance one tooth under the pawl d.

For the reliable working of the exchange there are certain conditions which the sender must fulfil, the most important of which is the transmission of the correct signal. Outside of the electrical construction and the positive manner of making contact errors in transmission may result from accidental or intentional tampering or interference with the sender. Consequently this instrument must be-free from such interference. In other words, when the subscriber has set his senderso that the number desired is displayed at the glass opening and has turned his calling knob the sender is positively locked against any further interference on the part of the operator until the signal for which it has been set has been sent. This is accomplished by a series of protective devices the office of which is mainly to compel the user to go through all operations necessary in order to send the complete signal. If the user neglects this, nosignal at all will be sent. This protection is partially electrical, as the circuit is not entirely completed until the last operation of the series on the part of the user has been completed, and is partially mechanical, comprising a system of mechanical locks compelling the user to go through a series of op- .erations in a predetermined order of rotation.

Thus while the user can at will change from one number to another before he finally turns the calling-knob the act of turning this knob puts the instrument entirely beyond his control until the complete signal has been sent. This is a very important and necessary feature, as otherwise a mutilated or incomplete signal sent would disable the sender and line until such time as the sender could be put right by some skilled person.

The mechanical locking devices comprise a detent for locking each of the number-dials against operation after the calling-knob has been turned and an escapement-detent and a series of locking-levers for locking the rotating contact-maker D against operation until the sender is started by an impulse from the central exchange, these locks being correlated in sucha way as to make each successive act of the user dependent upon his having first performed the next previous act.

The detent-locking mechanism for locking the number-dials is shown most clearly in Fig. 9, which represents this mechanism as lifted off the top of the mechanism shown in Fig. 6, the upper plate of the frame of the instrument being shown in dotted lines. This mechanism comprises a pair of detent-levers c pivoted to the upper plate of the instrument-frame, each of which is adapted to en gage a toothed disk 0 carried by the spinupon insulating material.

dles a and a. The ends 0 of the detent-levers c are during the time that the instrument is at rest opposite the openings 0 of the flanged disk 0 upon shaft e. Hence the disks 0, and therefore the spindles a and co, may be rotated and the numberdials adjusted; but when the sender is set the openings in the disk 0 are rotated past the ends 0 of the detent-levers, so that these levers will be brought into engagement with the periphery of the disk, and thus it will be seen that the pins 0 of the detent-levers cannot be raised out of the teeth of the disk 0 Hence the spindles a and a will be locked against rotation, and the number-dials therefore cannot be tampered with. The disk 1; is rotated to this locking position by the opera tion of the calling-knob through the medium of the levers e and e The locking mechanism, which prevents the operation of the rotary contact-maker until the proper time, consists of a series of locking-levers and related parts, which in elude a disk e mounted fast upon the spindle e, and the system comprising the levers e e 6 and the pivoted catch e, the latter being a part of the magnetic release comprising a pivoted armature f, with which the pivoted catch e is integral, and an electromagnet F. The lever e carries a contactmaker e comprising a metal ring mounted This contactmaker is adapted when the instrument is set to engage and complete an electric circuit through contact springs 2 which form a part of the ground connection. When the subscriber turns the calling-knob to set the instrument, the lever 8-, being sent into engagement with the lower end of the lever-arm a will set the locking mechanism in the position shown in Fig. 7, the positions that the parts occupy in Fig. 6 being the positions of rest. From Fig. 7 it will be seen that the lever 6 has caused. the pin e upon the upper end of the lever e to engage the shoulder of the latch e, which engages theend of the escapement-detent (1 and locks this detent against vibration, and it will also be seen that in this position of the locking mechanism the pin 6 is sent into contact with the groundterminals a and a". This, however, does not complete the ground connection. When the operator releases the callingknob, the lever e flies back to the position of rest (shown in Fig. 8) under the tension of the spring 6 the disk 6 of course rotating with it. 'When this disk has returned to the position of rest, the lever e will drop into the notch c and thus bring the contact-maker 6 into engagement with the contact-springs c This completion of the circuit to the ground through the contact-springs e is the last operation performed in setting the sender, and as it is essential that this ground connection be made before any connection between the central exchange and the sender can be had, it will therefore be seen that it is necessary to perform all the operations of setting the sender before any signal at all will be sent.

The action of the magnetic release and its connection with the locking mechanism of the sender will be more clearly understood and more fully described when-the operation of the system from beginning to end will be taken up. I

The sender is provided with a suitable base-plate and may, as hereinbefore stated, be located in any position accessible to the subscriber.

Each subscribers line carried into the central exchange is connected to two separate parallel rods H, mounted in insulating-plates h, secured to rearwardly-extending brackets h, which are bolted to the frame I of the switchboard, as at W. (See Figs. 20 and 21.) For each line I provide a suhscribers terminal-switch, which comprises a carriage K,-

mounted to travel on a pair of said rods. Each carriage carries the subscribers terminal-springs 7c and mounted upon the members 70 and 10 which are insulated from Y each other, but each of which is in electrical contact with one of said carriage-rods. These terminal-springs are adapted to pass by and to make contact with a series of conductors, shown in the present case as bars L, disposed at right angles to the direction of the movement of said springs. The bars orotherconductorsLare ofsuch dimensions as to have negligible ohmic resistance and are in pairs connectedto correspondingloop-circuits, which comprise impedance-coils and heavy leads connected to the terminals of a source of electrical energy--sueh as abattery or dynamo-in the manner of central-energy practice. These conducting-bars and loop-circuits together constitute the cord-oircuits of my exchange and correspond exactly in function to the well-known cord-circuits of manual exchanges. The bars L, therefore, forming the cord-circuit terminals, will be designated as such throughout the description and claims, since I do not confine or limit myself to any specific form of cord-circuit terminal, such as the bars herein shown.- It will thus be seen that the subscribers terminalswitches or carriages are in reality movable springjacks corresponding to the spring-jacks of a manual exchange, except that the latter are stationary. This manner of connecting the subscribers lines is in automatic exchange practice broadly new and differs fundamentally from all prior devices for accomplishing the same end. The number of sub scribers terminal switches or carriages therefore will be equal to the number of subscribers lines; but the number of cordcircuits that I employ is equal to ten per cent. of the number of subscribers, as this has been found to be a safe percentage of the number of lines in use at one time. I thereby greatly reduce the number of contacts, wires, and connections by which all of the subscribers could talk at the same time and which in.

practice has been found to be entirely unnecessary. In the position of rest the carriages all occupy the position shown in fulllines in Fig. 20, and one terminal-spring of each carriage-that is, the spring kis in contact with what I term a ground-terminal spring is, made fast to and insulated from the frame of the switch board, and it is through these springs k that the terminal-springs of the carriages are placed in electrical connection with a commutator device, hereinafter described, and ultimately at intervals with the ground. Movement is impart ed to the carriage through ashuttle M,comprisingasectorgearandshuttle-arm connected to the carriage by means of the shuttle-connecting rodm. There are as many of these shuttles as there are carriages, and each is pivoted in the end of a shuttlecarrier M, which latter being mounted to rotate upon a shaft 'm, allows the shuttle movement in two directions. (See Figs. 20 and 21.) Each shuttle carrier and its shuttle and carriage are normally held in the position ofrest by a shuttleretaining lever m pivotally mounted upon and insulated from the frame of the switchboard, as shown at m". These shuttle-retaining levers m are in the nature of latches and are provided at one end with a projection or shoulder m which engages the upwardly-extending portion m of the shuttle-carrier. The retainers are returned to their normal positions by means of the spring m The portion m of the shuttle-carrier also acts asa rest for the shuttle-arm m which latter is provided with the shuttle-adjusting screw m and the shuttle-arm is normally held in engagement with the portion m of the shuttle-carrier by the spring m or its equivalent, all ofwhich is shown most clearly in Figs. 20 and 21. When at rest, the terminal-spring carriage, carriage-rod, shuttle, shuttle-carrier, and shuttle-retainer occupy the position shown in full lines in Fig. 20. The carriages are moved into the second or selective position by a signal sent into the exchange from the subscriber, which releases the shuttle-retainer of the shuttle connected to the carriage of the calling subscriber and allows the shuttle to drop by gravity into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 20. When this takes place, the teeth of the shuttle-sector engage a shuttle-operating pinion N, made up of a plurality of rods 11., extending longitudinally of the switchboard and journaled in suitable brackets 11, bolted to the switchboard-frame. It is by the operation of this pinion that the shuttle is further shifted and the carriage sent into the third or talking positionthat is, into that position where its terminal-springs will be brought into engagement with a set of cord-circuit terminals. The means by which this pinion is operated will be hereinafter fully described. The shuttle'retainers are operated and thereby made to release the shuttles and allow them to drop into the selective position partly by means of a device which I designate the busy-wheel P, which consists of a number of resilient radial fingers p, mounted upon a shaft 19, extending longitudinally of the switchboard and journaled in bearings 19 insulated from the switchboard-frame.

The fingers of the busy-wheel correspond in number to the number of subscribers and are disposed around the shaft p. in the form of a helix of one turn, the axial distance between the fingers being the same as the distance between the shuttles. This busy-Wheel, as will be seen more clearly later, continues to rotate so long as no switching is going on, but

stops momentarily to in part effect the switch.

The shuttle-retaining levers m extendto a point above the shaft of the busy-wheel, so that the ends of the said levers will be in a line measured axially along the busy-wheel shaft with that one of the busy-wheel fingers which occupies the vertical position, and therefore, owing to the spiral arrangement of the fingers, only one finger can at one time occupy that position. Parallel with the busy- Wheel shaft and preferably above it is journaled an axially-movable rack Q, whose teeth q lie at successive intervals in the axial path of the ends of the busy-wheel fingers, the intervals being due to the spiral arrangement of'the fingers. (See Fig. 13.) These busywheel fingers are made of resilient material, as above mentioned, preferably thin steel, and are capable of being sprung axially under the action of the rack Q when the latter is moved longitudinally, and these fingers in turn engage when so sprung the ends of the shuttle-retaining levers m with the result of liberating the latch end of the lever from the shuttle-carrier which it engages, and thus dropping the shuttle into engagement with the shuttle-pinion N. As only one tooth at a time can thus be sprung, it follows that only one shuttle can be dropped at a time.

The next group of parts com prises the power device, the selector with its rotating contactmaker and local circuit, the ringerand ringercontroller, and the busy test.

The power device brings about all the mechanical actions necessary in the exchange to establish and disestablish a switch. This device is driven by any available source of power and is a combination of constantlymoving parts with other parts whose motion is intermittent. These latter motions are under the control of magnets, which in turn are controlled by the subscribers station direct and through the selector. This powerdevice is preferably mounted upon one end of the switchboard and is shown in the accompanying drawings most clearly in Figs. 10 to 19, inclusive,where R represents the powerpulley or its equivalent, which is connected to any desired source of power, such as an electric motor. This pulley is mounted upon a power-shaft T, which it keeps constantly rotating. This power-shaft carries two pinions 0' and T the former of which imparts motion through the gear 0' and pinion r to a 

